Bonus

Debbie Mellenger

At the beginning of the semester Debbie Mellenger came to our class to teach us the basics of fundraising. Her support was very helpful because the process of fundraising was very new to a lot of us. At first the idea of raising such a large amount was quite intimidating. However, Debbie had a lot of helpful tips to guide us through the process  I know my group and I really appreciated her support, because we were very lost with ideas about what to do to raise funds. Personally, I have never asked money from strangers before, but Debbie gave some good advice on how not to be afraid to push a little to get people to donate. Also, I learned that people are more likely to donate if they know the money is going to a good cause. This being said, my group and I tried our hardest to let people know that their money was going to make a difference in a child’s life. Debbie’s presentation was very informative and gave us the courage to go forth with our fundraiser.

Reflective Essay

From the moment I was registered in Sociology 2311 I was ready to learn these new concepts and better understand Social Justice. From the beginning to the end of the class my concept of social justice has grown and expanded tremendously. The key for me in any class is to be able to relate the concepts and theories to the real world, which was obtained in this class. Without this connection to the real world I would have not enjoyed the class and would have not learned as much as I did. Throughout my University life I have seen course that did not have a strong relation to the world which hindered my ability to keep those concepts in my arsenal but other have and I use them on a daily basis and Social Justice has add to this arsenal.

The major concept that I got from this class was the concept of the Global Sociological Imagination. This concept helped me to understand social justice in the larger context. Without the Global Sociological Imagination we would not be able to understand social justice properly. What the Global Sociological Imagination is the relations of actions and the inactions of people around the world and how they impact their own life. This skill is something that we are not born with but learn through our life experiences. But this skill is very difficult to learn because trying to link your life to someone you have never met, talk, and seen is very difficult. But once you can do that it will become a very key concept. The way I was able to understand this was drawing to a physics concept of Newton’s third law that states “everything has an equal and opposite reactions”. By modifying this law to sociological terms I was better able to understand this difficult concept. But with such high glocalization we have the ability to help others in the world.

            With this high level of glocalization it is easy to make the world better, but it is just as easy to ruin others in the world. The citizens of the world interact so frequently that it is easy to see how we shape multiple things. As shown within the course us Canadians impact others around the world. But for some reason we are not able to realize the negative impacts we have on the world through our actions by the means of Hegemony. The way Hegemony is used by power elites to control and maintain control of various things in a non-violent way. This control is seen by many of us but in the positive light, but the reality is most of the control is negative. The negative light is very difficult to see, but with the proper teachings we all can learn and see it.  

            By learning about the Global Sociological Imagination, I can see how my choices and action impact so many around the world. This realization has taught me to better think and make more responsible choices to better the world and me. With this staring point and realization I will try to better other and teach them how we all are one community and must help our one community grow.

Social Darwinism

Social Darwinism is an ideology of society that seeks to apply biological concepts of Darwinism of evolutionary theory to sociology and politics. A major assumption that is prevenient in social Darwinism is that some races were gifted with superior genes while other races inherited inferior genes and were not gifted superior genes. This gifting of superior genes allowed certain races to better excel in survival, as well as succeed in their roles, also these superior genes allowed them to control their social environment, which intern forced others that did not have gifted genes to become weak and been allowed to wither away from existence. To improve human genetic characteristics, social Darwinists drew on the idea of struggle and survival as natural mechanisms and hypothesized that the inferior races and societies would “naturally” wither away. It was believed that attempts to save them were defiance of the laws of nature. Later, the aim of Adam Smith’s laissez faire economic theory was to let the natural laws of the market take their due course, during which the ‘economically deficient’ peoples would be taken out and the ‘economically progressive’ people would be successful. With Social Darwinism there was contention to the concept and this was brought up by Mills who argued that Darwinists were too quick to blame the government and various policies which appeased unemployment and poverty as a reason to the conflicting outcome. Mills argued that social welfare is measures that maintain inferior racial stock and help them to reproduce. From there they argue that society and government should make sure through biological engineering and selective breeding that superior human species are made and thrive.

Gacaca system

Following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda of Tutsi and other Rwandans the Gacaca court was formed. The court was formed in 2001 and is a part of the community of justice that is inspired by traditions. During the genocide approximately 800,000 – 1,000,000 Rawands were killed and most of them Tutsi. After the genocide that occurred in 1994 approximately 120,000 were waiting to be sentence for war crimes, crimes against community and genocide. This put a heavy burden on the government to develop means for human detention and prosecution. This lead to the Gacaca court system to be developed from the traditional cultural communal law enforcement procedures. The Gacaca courts are a method of transitional justice, designed to promote healing and moving on from the crisis. The president of the Supreme Court in Rwanda Alousie Cyanzayire believes they have achieved the goals that they had expected from the system. The aim that they were trying to achieve was national reconciliation, which was achieved according to Cyanzayire. The law that Rwanda was trying to achieve was one that would punish the guilty parties but also give them a chance at seeking forgiveness from the victims and the people of Rwanda. The main reason they went with this process was to grant them a change to be accepted by the people after being forgiven. If the person is granted this their sentence is reduced and then they can return to society.

Law and Order (Civil Society)

Frank Tridico states two central premises that are necessary to maintain law and order in civil society in his book Issues in Social Justice. The first premise states that “the State and organized religion need to be perceived as legitimate (Tridico, 2009, p. 5)”. The second premise states that the State and organized religion need to be “able to use power and influence to enforce its own laws/tenets (Tridico, 2009, p. 5)”. So what the first premise is stating is that the State and organized religion must look as a truly real and a legal image. While the second premise is trying to show that the State and organized religion must have power and with that power they must be able to use it to enforce their laws. Without the State and organized religion looking legitimate they will not be able to enforce their laws/tents so they must have credibility and legitimacy.  Now with the understanding of these two premises we can look at example of how the State and organized religion use their powers.

An example of the State using there is with all the acts and statues that they create and enact on a daily bases. Also the State and organized religion must enforce their own laws to keep balance with their respective powers. As well if they do not enforce their laws/tenets they would lose the legitimate statues. And if there is any resistance against the State or organized religion there will be stop by them. By stop any resistance against their power and rule, ensures that they will continue their reign. An example of how the State and organized religion continue their reign and stop resistance is when the occupy movements happened recently. The elites calmed the resistance by using their power and controlling the resistance by non-violent means.

Even though resistance is stopped by the State and organized religion we cannot assume that they are not open to opinions. The State and organized religion allow different opinions in certain situations. The first situation is “compartmentalize dissent”, the second is “minimize dissent” and the final one is “ensure it affords itself means by which dissent can be quelled. (Tridico, 2009, p. 5)” So the meanings of these forms of dissent are that the first one is trying dividing the various opinions, the second one is trying to keep it as low as possible, and the final form is trying to make sure that it won’t go out of control. An example of dissent is the other parties in the House of Commons who have different opinions and viewpoints that the party in power.

As we can see the premises show how the State and organized religion maintain law and order in civil society. The first example that shows the first premise is how the State and organized religion have scandals with in their respective sides but they do charity work to better their status and this keeps the legitimate. An example that show the second premise is when the United States government invaded Iraq, saying it was to fight terrorism this shows how the State look legitimate in enforcing their laws upon the Iraqis. Even though they enforce their power they must control themselves and be open to opinions. They do this by only choosing certain people to bring in their opinions and this method helps to have different opinions with minimal risk and if there’s resistance it is easy to control and maintain. An example of this when government bringing a cooperation that had tax breaks from the government. The State and organized religion use two main premises that Frank Tridico states and explains in complex and detailed way in his book Issues in Social Justice, but with this understanding and example we all can all see how the State and Organized Religion maintain law and order.

Struggles of Homosexuality

-The first most important sentence that I found was “The process of realizing one’s sexual orientation and in turn deciding on how one will negotiate society as a member of the LGBT community. (Tridico, 2009, p. 33)” The main reason this is an important sentence is because it help to illustrate how difficult “coming out” is. Even though the final result of revealing their true self is show people that come out “must negotiate how they will be perceived in the workplace, in their churches, at school and every facet of their lives. (Tridico, 2009, p. 33)” Also once a person comes out they’re constantly being judged and this is an unfair judgement because we are equal and should be treated equally. Also Tridico states that “the fear of coming out may be substantiated by the rising numbers of hate crimes that LGBT people face (2009, p. 33)”, with this fear it makes it even more difficult for people to come out. This hate crime has been seen recently in our community when Mike Kandola punched Jordan Smith for being gay. This reality is seen more frequently and must be stop. This sentence shows how important difficult it is for the gay and lesbian community and that is why I think it is an important sentence.

-The second important sentence that I found was “According to the National gay and Lesbian Task Force, gays and lesbians face a disproportionate amount of crime based on their sexual orientation. (Tridico, 2009, p. 34)” This an important sentence because it show the difficulties the community face for being the person that they want to be. Also it shows that they are targeted more just because of their sexual orientation. Also it shows that the gay and lesbian community are starting to be part of “hate crimes encompass bias motivated crimes against gays and lesbians, but also, persons of color, religious orientation and disability. (Tridico, 2009, p. 34)” This statement shows the elevated status of danger that this community faces. With having family part of the gay and lesbian community this worries us because our family members are in more danger just because they are human beings but in other they are monsters which are a false and troublesome reality. This sentence show the importance that authority have put on the problem that the gay and lesbian community face.

- The final sentence that I found important was “Roscigno details how exclusion through the hiring process was the fourth most common form of employment discrimination. (Tridico, 2009, p. 39)” This is important sentence because it shows how minority group such as my parents and have face coming from the Fiji Islands. My dad was turned away from numerous job because they considered him unqualified even though he was a Vice President of a large company in Fiji and he came to Canada for my education. This sentence shows the hard ship that minority groups face when coming to a country like Canada even if they have more qualification then what is required they will still be turned because they are a minority. With this type of discrimination a country will never grow and become its full potential. This sentence is very important because it show minority groups should not be judge and given equal opportunities as everyone else.

of Frank Tridico’s book Issues in Social Justice he talks about how many established religions are against homosexuality. Gay movements have “sought to create a new religious identity” (Tridico, 2009, p. 4) in already established religions such as Christianity. These movements have had tremendous resistance and will continue to great resistance.

Religion and Homosexuality

In Christianity homosexuality is seen as a sin because anything outside heterosexuality is seen as a sin in Christianity. Because of this pressure and oppression brought upon by religions it makes it very difficult for individuals to come out of their shells and reveal who they truly are. Also the “coming out” has positive and negative implications because they “must negotiate how they will be perceived in the workplace, in their churches, at school and every facet of their lives. (Tridico, 2009, p. 33)” With these pressure many do not come out and hide their homosexuality because they know the chances are that there will be more negative implications then positive ones. With this resistance of homosexuality that stems from religious roots, brings in a lot of hardship and problematic issues for everyone. Even though in many religions we are taught that God is accepting of everyone and that God created us all equally. But because of our religious leaders we are taught that sexual impurities will be punished by God and this lead us to hide our true image that God gave us. As I look at my own religion I it evident that homosexuality is seen as a sinful act and is not accepted. In the community you do not see may gay Indian and if there are gay Indian they are rejected by the community. But with so many movements by the community there is acceptance in the community but not in the religious ground.   I truly believe we have the right to our own sexuality and that God made us who we are so we should be free to express our image that God created for us. Homosexuality has a long way to go before becoming a legitimate sect in religions. It must overcome the label of a sinful act and be seen a part of the religion. But without these labels and acceptance homosexuality will not become legitimate in an organized religion.